Stokrooie (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – A motorcycle club held a memorial ride to Stokrooie in honor of missing children Kim and Ken, concluding at their memorial stone to mark their tragic absence.
In Antwerp, the brother and sister vanished thirty-one years ago. Ken’s body was never located, while Kim’s was discovered dead on a quay in the port of Antwerp. The children’s mother and family attended the motorcycle club’s memorial service in Stokrooie (Hasselt) today in honor of Ken’s 40th birthday.
31 years have passed since the disappearance of Ken (8) and Kim (11). To play and stay with friends, they rode the tram from Borgerhout to Merksem on January 4, 1994. However, they never showed up.
Kim’s body was found by a skipper at the Asia Dock at the port of Antwerp, Belgium on February 11th, a month later. On the night of her disappearance, the girl had been brutally abused and killed.
Today would normally have been Ken’s 40th birthday. The Olen motorcycle club POAC Antwerp (Protectors Of ALL Children) decided to plan a memorial ride to the Stokrooie (Hasselt) memorial for murdered and missing children in order to help his mother Tinny Mast and her family cope with this trying day. Tinny is very close to the motorcycle club, which has previously hosted memorial services for Kim and Ken.
The convoy traveling to Stokrooie was joined by members of other groups as well. A brief but heartfelt ceremony was held at the memorial stone upon arrival. Tinny and her family were among the approximately 60 bikers that attended the event. They honored more than just the events of thirty-one years ago involving Kim and Ken.
“Tinny believes it’s very important that not only Kim and Ken, but also other murdered or missing children, are not forgotten,”
says Ivan Goormans, chairman of the POAC motorcycle club and a police officer in real life.
“That’s why we organize these kinds of memorial rides. If you don’t have the correct last name, the attention quickly fades, and that’s a shame. They shouldn’t be forgotten either.”
His daughter Yoni, who is also a member of the club, wasn’t even born when the incident happened.
“It might have happened before my time, but standing here gives you goosebumps. Until you’ve experienced something like that yourself, I don’t think you can grasp what it feels like. I wouldn’t want to be in Tinny’s shoes.”
It was an emotional day for Tinny, but also one that gave her immense strength.
“This gives me the strength to carry on and makes the pain bearable,”
she says.
“It’s comforting to know that my children, but also other children who were murdered or went missing, are not forgotten. Everyone here today has a heart for children, and that’s the most beautiful thing in the world. Ken would have loved to be a motorcyclist. I can feel him riding with me up here on his 40th birthday.”
Today, 31 years later, Tinny still hopes for a breakthrough in the case.
“Every time the disappearance of Kim and Ken is commemorated, there’s some progress in the case,”
says Tinny.
“I definitely still have hope. The investigation is ongoing, and I have a good cold case team around me. They treated me with the respect I deserve as a mother, but they also told me that I wasn’t the perpetrator. And those are words I’ve been waiting for a long time for. It was like a sword hanging over my head. I believe this team will do everything they can.”
After the celebration, the bikers, along with Tinny and her family, continued on to Kuringen for a hamburger, as that was Ken’s favorite food.
“Ken was crazy about burgers, but not fries. He always took his fries to a homeless man. The fact that an eight-year-old would do something like that is something I’ll always remember. So, no fries for me today, but a delicious hamburger.”
How has the community of Stokrooie responded to the memorial ride and service?
The community of Stokrooie responded to the memorial ride and service for Kim and Ken Heyrman with deep support, solidarity, and remembrance. Residents, family, and sympathizers gathered for the event, reflecting a tradition of annual ceremonies held to honor not just Kim and Ken but also all missing children whose cases remain unresolved.
The presence of the children’s mother and family at the service underscores the ongoing communal commitment to keeping their memory alive and supporting those impacted by such tragedies.
Memorial events like this in Stokrooie are characterized by shared grief and collective reflection, often including moments of silence, personal tributes, and calls for continued awareness about missing children.
